=begin pod :tag<perl6>

=TITLE Meta-Object Protocol

=SUBTITLE Introspection and the Perl 6 Object System

X<|MOP>
X<|Introspection>

Perl 6 is built on a meta object layer. That means that there are objects
(the I<meta objects>) that control how various object-oriented constructs
(such as classes, roles, methods, attributes, enums, ...) behave.

To get a feeling for the meta object for C<class>, here is the same example
twice: once as normal declarations in Perl 6, and once expressed through the
L<meta model|/type/Metamodel::ClassHOW>:

    class A {
        method x() { say 42 }
    }

    A.x();

corresponds to:

    constant A := Metamodel::ClassHOW.new_type( name => 'A' );  # class A {
    A.^add_method('x', my method x(A:) { say 42 });             # method x() .. .
    A.^compose;                                                 # }

    A.x();

(except that the declarative form runs at compile time, and the latter form
does not).

The meta object behind an object can be obtained with C<$obj.HOW>, where HOW
stands for Higher Order Workings (or, I<HOW the *%@$ does this work?>).

Here, the calls with C<.^> are calls to the meta object, so C<A.^compose> is
a shortcut for C<A.HOW.compose(A)>. The invocant is passed in the parameter
list as well, to make it possible to support prototype-style type systems,
where there is just one meta object (and not one meta object per type, as
standard Perl 6 does it).

As the example above demonstrates, all object oriented features are
available to the user, not just to the compiler. In fact the compiler just
uses such calls to meta objects.

=head1 Metamethods

These are introspective macros that resemble method calls.

Metamethods are generally named with ALLCAPS, and it is considered good
style to avoid creating your own methods with ALLCAPS names.  This will avoid
conflicts with any metamethods that may appear in future versions of the
language.

=head2 X<WHAT|syntax,WHAT>

The type object of the type. This is a pseudo-method that can be overloaded
without producing error or warning, but will be ignored.


For example C<42.WHAT> returns the C<Int> type object.

=head2 X<WHICH|syntax,WHICH>

The object's identity value. This can be used for hashing and identity
comparison, and is how the C<===> infix operator is implemented.

=head2 X<WHO|syntax,WHO>

The package supporting the object.

=head2 X<WHERE|syntax,WHERE>

The memory address of the object. Note that this is not stable in
implementations with moving/compacting garbage collectors. Use C<WHICH> for
a stable identity indicator.

=head2 X<HOW|syntax,HOW>

The metaclass object: "Higher Order Workings".

=head2 X<WHY|syntax,WHY>

The attached Pod value.

=head2 X<DEFINITE|syntax,DEFINITE>

The object has a valid concrete representation. This is a pseudo-method that
can be overloaded without producing error or warning, but will be ignored.

Returns C<True> for instances and C<False> for type objects.

=head2 X<VAR|syntax,VAR>

Returns the underlying C<Scalar> object, if there is one.

The presence of a C<Scalar> object indicates that the object is "itemized".

    .say for (1, 2, 3);           # OUTPUT: «1␤2␤3␤», not itemized
    .say for $(1, 2, 3);          # OUTPUT: «(1 2 3)␤», itemized
    say (1, 2, 3).VAR ~~ Scalar;  # OUTPUT: «False␤»
    say $(1, 2, 3).VAR ~~ Scalar; # OUTPUT: «True␤»

=head1 Structure of the meta object system

B<Note:> this documentation largely reflects the meta object system as
implemented by the L<Rakudo Perl 6 compiler|http://rakudo.org/>, since the
L<design documents|https://design.perl6.org/> are very light on details.

For each type declarator keyword, such as C<class>, C<role>, C<enum>,
C<module>, C<package>, C<grammar> or C<subset>, there is a separate meta
class in the C<Metamodel::> namespace. (Rakudo implements them in the
C<Perl6::Metamodel::> namespace, and then maps C<Perl6::Metamodel> to
C<Metamodel>).

Many of the these meta classes share common functionality. For example
roles, grammars and classes can all contain methods and attributes, as well
as being able to do roles.  This shared functionality is implemented in
roles which are composed into the appropriate meta classes. For example
L<role Metamodel::RoleContainer|/type/Metamodel::RoleContainer> implements
the functionality that a type can hold roles and
L<Metamodel::ClassHOW|/type/Metamodel::ClassHOW>, which is the meta class
behind the C<class> keyword, does this role.

Most meta classes have a C<compose> method that you must call when you're
done creating or modifying a meta object. It creates method caches, validates
things and so on, and weird behavior ensues if you forget to call it, so don't :-).

=head2 Bootstrapping concerns

You might wonder how C<Metamodel::ClassHOW> can be a class, when being a
class is defined in terms of C<Metamodel::ClassHOW>, or how the roles
responsible for role handling can be roles. The answer is I<by magic>.

Just kidding. Bootstrapping is implementation specific. Rakudo does it by
using the object system of the language in which itself is implemented,
which happens to be (nearly) a subset of Perl 6: NQP, Not Quite Perl. NQP
has a primitive, class-like kind called C<knowhow>, which is used to
bootstrap its own classes and roles implementation. C<knowhow> is built on
primitives that the virtual machine under NQP provides.

Since the object model is bootstrapped in terms of lower-level types,
introspection can sometimes return low-level types instead of the ones you
expect, like an NQP-level routine instead of a normal L<Routine|/type/Routine>
object, or a bootstrap-attribute instead of L<Attribute|/type/Attribute>.

=head2 Composition time and static reasoning

In Perl 6, a type is constructed as it is parsed, so in the beginning, it must
be mutable. However if all types were always mutable, all reasoning about them
would get invalidated at any modification of a type. For example the list of
parent types and thus the result of type checking can change during that time.

So to get the best of
both worlds, there is a time when a type transitions from mutable to
immutable. This is called I<composition>, and for syntactically declared
types, it happens when the type declaration is fully parsed (so usually when
the closing curly brace is parsed).

If you create types through the meta-object system directly, you must call
C<.^compose> on them before they become fully functional.

Most meta classes also use composition time to calculate some properties like
the method resolution order, publish a method cache, and other house-keeping
tasks. Meddling with types after they have been composed is sometimes
possible, but usually a recipe for disaster. Don't do it.

=head2 Power and Responsibility

The meta object protocol offers much power that regular Perl 6 code
intentionally limits, such as calling private methods on classes that don't
trust you, peeking into private attributes, and other things that usually
simply aren't done.

Regular Perl 6 code has many safety checks in place; not so the meta model. It
is close to the underlying virtual machine, and violating the contracts with
the VM can lead to all sorts of strange behaviors that, in normal code, would
obviously be bugs.

So be extra careful and thoughtful when writing meta types.

=head2 Power, Convenience and Pitfalls

The meta object protocol is designed to be powerful enough to implement the
Perl 6 object system. This power occasionally comes at the cost of convenience.

For example, when you write C<my $x = 42> and then proceed to call methods on
C<$x>, most of these methods end up acting on the L<integer|/type/Int> 42, not
on the L<scalar container|/type/Scalar> in which it is stored. This is a piece
of convenience found in ordinary Perl 6. Many parts of the meta object
protocol cannot afford to offer the convenience of automatically ignoring
scalar containers, because they are used to implement those scalar containers
as well. So if you write C<my $t = MyType; ... ; $t.^compose> you are
composing the Scalar that the C<$>-sigiled variable implies, not C<MyType>.

The consequence is that you need to have a rather detailed understanding of
the subtleties of Perl 6 in order to avoid pitfalls when working with the MOP,
and can't expect the same "do what I mean" convenience that ordinary Perl 6
code offers.

=end pod

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